


Yeah, Take It! (The Compliment)

by XaviaAndromedovna



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Caboose is a comedy genius (signed Donut), Character Study, Donut Can't Take a Compliment, Donut is a BAMF (signed Caboose), Donut leaves, Donut trying really hard not to use innuendo, Hospitals, Injured Wash, Innuendo, M/M, Oblivious Donut, POV Donut, Post-Season/Series 17, Pre-Slash, Reds and Blues need therapy, Secret Santa, Time Travel, hair petting, the thrill of an unhelmeted face
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XaviaAndromedovna/pseuds/XaviaAndromedovna
Summary: Donut gradually learns how to take a compliment, and also that Caboose is a major flirt.
Relationships: Background Dexter Grif/Dick Simmons - Relationship, Michael J. Caboose/Franklin Delano Donut
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Yeah, Take It! (The Compliment)

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh! This year my New Year's Eve fic is a pinch-hit for Red vs. Blue Secret Santa 2020. I can't believe I haven't written Pastry Train before! Thanks to justabookworm39 for giving me occasion to write soft boys being cute, hope you like it. Merry Crisis and Happy 2021!

Donut was raised to be humble. His moms instilled in him the values of the typical Iowa farm boy, even if some of his interests were a little peculiar and they were insistent on him avoiding some of the more toxic flavors of masculinity available. Between that and how infrequently he hears praise from the guys constantly belittling him, he simply does not know how to process people saying nice things about him.

It gets easier when it starts happening a lot more frequently while they’re coordinating their efforts on Iris. Their group apology was lackluster at best, but one by one each of them comes up to him to apologize privately in their own way. Well, maybe ‘apologize’ is the wrong word, but they all put in the work to repair their relationships. Tucker’s the first to do it, commending him for taking charge of fixing the Everwhen. Tucker, however, has little patience for Donut’s modesty. “Just take the compliment, you angsty bitch,” he grumbles before walking off.

“Ooookay.”

Carolina is true to her word and shows her remorse by doing, fixing the timeline and respecting his instructions as if they were orders. Sister ends up in the same memory as him at one point and she pulls him aside to say how proud she is of him for sticking up for himself. And for owning his pink armor: “the others can suck it, we’re here, we’re queer, we’re badass time-travelers”. He _thinks_ Lopez says something remotely nice to him once they finally track him down and update him on the plan, but his Spanish is still a little rusty. Doc, ever the sweetheart, apologizes for trying to stop him from using the hammer, but given all the times they’ve forgotten Doc over the years, he figures they’re about even. It’s still fun to reminisce with him about their epic battle though.

The reds, predictably, take a little longer to come around. He figures it’s enough that Sarge actually listens to him when he answers a question, but then one day he needs Donut’s help fixing a paradox. When it’s over, he says, in his gruff manner, “thank you Donut, uhhh… good work”. He pats him on the back and zips back to Iris, and that’s that. Simmons develops a complicated chart to log their progress and divvy up their assignments and hands it to Donut awkwardly. It proves immensely useful.

Grif, having just come back from a timeline where he shot Simmons instead of Gene, is smoking in his helmet when Donut walks by. He gives half-hearted responses to Donut’s questions, but just as he starts to walk away, Grif sighs. “Look Donut, I don’t like you. I think you’re annoying, overdramatic, and honestly creepy. BUT—” he adds quickly, sensing Donut’s exasperation. “I also know that we’ve all betrayed the group at least once in our long, long history together, myself included, so I get it. For what it’s worth, I tried to stop them before they could create the paradox, but I wasn’t fast enough. Genkins played me, just like Chrovos played you. So… I guess I’m trying to say… sorry, or whatever.”

For some reason though, he remembers Caboose’s the best. (Okay, it’s not really a shock why, but he doesn’t want to think about that too closely.) Caboose has really surprised him lately, the only one who immediately understood and the point man for most of this operation. Caboose and Wash have been Donut’s rock since they all came togeth—met up, and he truly doesn’t know what he would have done without them.

But if he thinks about it, he and Caboose have always had a pretty great relationship comparatively. Ever since he first let Donut run off with the blue team flag, he’s been nothing but kind and congenial, even when they were holding each other hostage. They don’t really see each other all that often since Caboose is a blue and they were separated on Chorus, but nearly every interaction he’s had with the man has been pleasant. And most importantly, he never talks down to Donut or treats him like an idiot. Plus, his hair is really soft and fun to braid.

It's no wonder then that Caboose is the person Donut is least mad at besides Wash, so he assumes they would just get to work without addressing things. Thankfully, Caboose once again surprises him. They’ve been rezipping time for a while when Caboose walks into the corner of red base Donut has more or less claimed as central command. He takes off his helmet and fidgets with it, his face as cheerful as ever.

“Welcome back, Caboose. What’s the news from Huggins?”

“Yeah she says we’re most of the way done, just a couple stubborn branches left before the last paradox. We’ll be back with the weather after these messages.” Caboose zips out and leaves his Iris counterpart staring at the sky. Two seconds later he pops in again. “Ah right yes, you probably want to know where the next branch is, it’s the one where I got assigned to red team instead of you.”

“Aww, fiddlesticks, I like that one.”

“Yeah it’s pretty great, Red Sergeant is much nicer in that one.”

“And I really like the idea of you playing for our team—gosh darn it, I did it again! I don’t know how to stop making innuendos.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know what an innuendo is, so if you make me one, I won’t know what to do with it, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Donut laughs at that. He’s always found Caboose to be the funniest guy here. “It certainly is an unwelcome gift.”

Caboose gives him a toothy smile with the same adoration in his eyes he usually reserves for Freckles. It makes Donut slightly nervous how giddy he is at that, so he studiously looks away. “You know what I like about you, Donut? You never treat me like I’m stupid. I mean, I know the other guys don’t respect me; they think I don’t get it, but I do. And that’s okay, because I know they love me anyway, whether they want to or not. But I guess I just wanted to say that I think you’re awesome, maybe not Church awesome but you’re a really great friend and I’m glad to have you around. Also thank you for helping fix the singularity and saving the universe. Y’know, I think you, me, and Wash make a great team.”

“Aww, Caboose," he coos, pulling the large man into a hug. "That might be the nicest thing anyone here’s ever said to me!”

“You are welcome, Prince Croissant.”

It’s been a while since Caboose has used a different name for him, and it’s strange especially considering he called him Donut a few minutes earlier. He always just assumed Caboose couldn’t remember his name, but “…you do that on purpose, don’t you?”

Caboose just winks at him and walks off, putting his helmet back on. All these years, has… has Caboose been flirting with him the entire time??

~~~

After they’ve had a chance to welcome Lopez back and hear the condensed version of his travels, they take turns visiting with Wash. He’s asleep when Caboose and Donut come in, so they talk quietly until he wakes up and Donut can say goodbye.

“I’m gonna miss you, Corporal McMuffin. It’s not as fun when you’re gone.”

“Aww, I’ll miss you too, Caboose. I just… I just need to get out of here, you know?”

“I understand. You never got your time travel vacation, so you have to use your hours up before the end of the fiscal year.”

Donut laughs. “Yeah, something like that.”

Caboose stretches out and removes his helmet. He’s been doing it a lot more lately; there was a time when Donut assumed it was stuck on since he literally never saw him without it and he always used the old model, but especially on Iris he was more likely to remove it, at the very least whenever Donut wasn’t wearing his. He doesn’t really do that around the others though, usually the only one still in his armor when even Sarge is in civvies. Maybe he just does it around Donut.

Donut’s certainly not complaining. His dark brown eyes look at him warmly when he smiles, which is nearly all the time. His uncontainable energy is best expressed by his dynamic, bushy eyebrows that match the curls that bounce when he moves his head. He’s only seen him with a beard once, during a depressive spiral after one of Church’s deaths; otherwise he’s always impeccably clean-shaven, though he doesn’t seem to grow much hair to begin with. The blue stud in his right ear stands out against his brown skin, as does one of the requisite scars each of them has, his being two puncture marks on his neck from when Junior first fed.

“Huh. I always forget how pretty you are.” Which is probably a _super weird thing to say_ , Donut. His eyes widen in embarrassment, but Caboose just beams at him and makes a noise of fond surprise.

“Wha… well that’s just, gosh Donut that’s really nice of you to say, thanks. I’m trying something different so I get less helmet hair.”

“Is that why you’ve been taking your helmet off lately?”

He looks down at the equipment in question awkwardly. “Oh, well yeah I mean I guess, y’know that makes sense and _totally isn’t a cover for the real reason_!”

Donut smirks. “Which is?”

“Ah, you got me,” Caboose calls out dramatically. “Y’know you have gotten much better at interrogations!”

“Why thank you! And you’ve gotten better at deflecting answers!”

Caboose winks at him, and it suddenly occurs to Donut that he has no idea how many times Caboose winks at him under his helmet, or smiles when he says things in a way that communicates he’s fully aware of what he’s saying—and not saying. It’s highly possible part of the reason no one here understands him is because they can’t tell when he’s just screwing with them without his many facial expressions to give it away. “Sometimes you have to keep giving the obviously wrong answers until they get bored with trying to find the right one. It’s more fun that way.”

“I’m honestly impressed you’ve gone this long without anyone picking up on the fact you’re trolling them.”

“Thank you, I am very protective of my bridge.”

They stare at each other in companionable silence for several seconds. Donut smiles at him with menacing politeness. “You still haven’t answered the question.”

“Psh! I—wha—uhh—” Caboose stutters before smiling at him in awe. “Well played, Donut.” He takes a sudden interest in the tile patterns on the floor and says nothing for several moments. When he finally speaks, his reply much quieter than Donut thought his voice could physically get. “I never forget how pretty you are.” Donut’s breath catches. He really has been flirting with him all along. He can’t tell if that revelation makes him feel happy or like he’s just now realizing what he’s leaving behind. “But I like seeing if I really did remember it correctly, and I like being able to see you smile. And I don’t think it’s fair if I can see what your face is doing while you talk but you can’t see what mine is doing, so I like to even the playing field. When you have yours off, I think it’s only polite to take off mine.”

“Just me?”

“Well you and Church, but I don’t want Church to look down on me and be sad about what he sees so now it’s just you. And Freckles.”

Caboose has always been an enigma whose depths Donut longed to plumb (darn it, not like _that_ ). But apparently Caboose’s capacity for surprise is unfathomable. Does he not trust the other guys? (Why would he?) “You’re not just saying this to get me to stay?”

“Nah, I know that wouldn’t work. But just in case you decide you don’t want to come back, or you’re needed to save the cosmos again, or you get amnesia and have to discover the true meaning of Christmas, I wanted to say it all before you’re gone instead of after.”

“Well, thank you, Caboose. You certainly are quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I dunno, I haven’t seen any snakes in a while so it’s probably not that.”

Before Donut can stop laughing long enough to respond, Wash stirs in his bed. Caboose stands and places a hand on Donut’s shoulder. “I can get Wash caught up later, I’ll let you say goodbye. Fly safe, General Angelfood.”

“Wait!” Before he can think too hard about it, Donut stands as well and kisses Caboose on the cheek. “In case you wake up in a timeline where I was never born.” Caboose is looking resolutely at his feet and trying extremely hard not to smile. He rushes out of the room and it’s unbearably adorable.

Wash makes a noise like he’s trying to speak, but the hole in his neck prevents that. “Hey Wash, you’re okay. Don’t try to speak, you’re still healing.” After several more panicked moments, Wash settles and places a hand on Donut’s cheek. ‘ _Thank you_ ,’ he mouths.

“Of course,” Donut whispers. “Thanks for taking one for the team. Again.”

Wash reaches for the notepad on his side table, which Donut hands to him. He feels bad for thinking it, but loopy Wash is secretly one of his favorite Wash’s, because his contributions to conversations are much more chaotic, such as what he’s writing on the pad: _Caboose and Donut, right in front of me, K-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I_.

Donut rubs his hand along the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle. “You saw that, huh?”

 _I ship it_ , Wash scribbles.

“Ha, thanks…” He’s not making this easy for Donut, leaving, which is probably a good thing, seeing as it’s a pretty big decision. But Donut knows it’s the right one, and he knows Wash will understand. “I’m glad you’re okay, Wash. I uhh… I just wanted to stop in and see you before I leave.”

Wash tilts his head.

“Yeah, I think it’s time for me to strike out on my own again, clear my head, recover from my own trauma. And I don’t think I can do that with the guys right now. Usually, I love being surrounded by all these men—oh, you know what I mean!” Wash chuckles and coughs, taking Donut’s offered water. “But there’s only so much of their nonsense I can take, y’know?”

Wash nods. He takes Donut’s right hand in his own and shakes it. ‘ _Goodbye, Donut_.’

“Goodbye, Wash. Get well soon. We’re all rooting for you.”

~~~

They weren’t quite able to restore all the soft time from the donut holes to the original timeline, just enough to fix the Everwhen. One consequence is that space armor is a much more common day-to-day fashion than it used to be. Which is fine with Donut since he’s spent so long in it as it is, although it does make for a strange juxtaposition, standing on the farm where he grew up in his pink uniform. It takes him a while to return to Earth after getting Wash back to Chorus, but he eventually did want to check in on his family. His moms have been following his exploits closely and take every opportunity to tell him how proud they are of him. They then promptly put him to work tending the cows, and he’s grateful for the chance to focus on something else for a while.

Before he leaves the solar system, he stops at the moon for this one delicacy Caboose used to tell him about sometimes. It’s a strange texture but it’s just as delicious as he described it. He orders a bunch to be gift wrapped and sent to Iris with the following note: _To the Last Railcar, in case he forgot what they taste like. Love, Lieutenant Pastry_.

After four years and a lot of therapy, he still misses the reds and blues sometimes, but he also knows that life isn’t home anymore, at least not in the same way his apartment in the heart of the Vegas Quadrant is. Iris is home in the way Blood Gulch is, the way Iowa is: somewhere you go when you need your family but in small doses, a place that will always be important to you even if it can no longer sustain you. He shows up one day and tells them firmly he’s not staying, he’s just visiting for a while, and they more or less respect that. He doesn’t expect the warm welcome he receives—if he didn’t know any better, he’d think they actually missed him.

And maybe they did; now that they’re actually retired this time, they seem to have calmed down considerably. Wash and Carolina stayed on Chorus to give Wash the supports he needs, but when they hear Donut’s in the neighborhood they swing by to see him. Caboose instantly pulls him into a bone-crushing hug, one the rest of blue team joins in. He wakes up one morning to find his spaceship in mysteriously pristine condition and the radio set to the Spanish-language oldies station. (Lopez denies any involvement but accepts Donut’s grateful hug anyway.) Grif and Simmons, who are _FINALLY_ together, request a w(h)ine and cheese hour for old times’ sake. Sarge pretends Donut was simply in the bathroom this whole time, but he can tell he’s joking. He and Doc stay up til all hours catching up on their lives.

He’s sitting on the beach out of his armor one night when he hears the thump of a body plopping down next to him. Caboose removes his helmet and places it gently next to him, looking out at the water. “Are you looking for mermaids? Because I haven’t seen any yet but I’m sure they’re out there.”

“One of these planets has to have them,” Donut agrees.

“How long are you staying this time?”

“I’ll probably stay a couple months. It’s a long flight to get here so I want to make it worthwhile, but I do have to go home eventually.”

Caboose nods pensively and continues looking out at the water, illuminated by the other moons. “I’m glad you’re here, Donut.”

“Me too. I missed you, you know.”

“Yeah, I missed you too, but you write good letters.”

Donut matches his smile then runs a hand through the sand nervously. “You know, if you ever wanted to visit me, you’re welcome any time.”

Caboose looks up at him with careful hope. “Really?”

“Of course! It’s weird not having you around.”

“Yeah, no one plays with my hair anymore, it makes me sad.”

“Would you like me to play with it now?”

“Yes please. Also is that an entenduendo?”

Donut laughs as Caboose puts his head in his lap. “I guess it is, this place must just bring it out of me. But I meant your hair.”

“That works too,” Caboose winks before closing both eyes and enjoying the feel of Donut’s hand in his hair. Donut presses a short kiss to his forehead then looks back out over the water, thinking about how the greatest compliment he’s ever been paid is the privilege of the blue soldier’s friendship.


End file.
